Viewers don't warm up to 'Live Earth' coverage
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/...8423123fb19536

NEW YORK -- NBC's three-hour primetime "Live Earth" special, which included highlights from Saturday's global concerts, failed to generate much enthusiasm in the ratings.

The estimated 2.7 million viewers was slightly under the 3 million viewers NBC has averaged on Saturday nights in the summer with repeats and the Stanley Cup hockey playoffs on what is already the least-popular night of television.

It also performed below the Live 8 concert two years ago, according to preliminary estimates released Monday by Nielsen Media Research.

The three-hour concert special from Giants Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J., drew a 0.9 rating/3 share in adults 18-49 --- the same as a typical summer Saturday after Memorial Day.

The special was also just under ABC's primetime coverage of the Live 8 concert, which occurred Independence Day weekend on July 2, 2005. Live 8 averaged 2.9 million viewers and a 1.0 rating/5 share in adults 18-49.
Ratings for the all-day, all-night telecasts on NBC Universal's cable platforms, including 18 hours on Bravo and even more than that on Sundance Channel, won't be in until Tuesday.

Meanwhile, CBS and Fox split Sunday night in primetime, with CBS winning viewership while Fox won in adults 18-49 thanks to repeats of "Family Guy" and "The Simpsons."

"Big Brother," which CBS has hoped would rescue it from the summer ratings doldrums, failed to do just that as it was beaten in viewership at 8 p.m. by "Dateline NBC" and in the demo by repeats of "The Simpsons" on Fox.

"Big Brother" averaged 5.9 million viewers and a 2.1/7 in adults 18-49 compared to "Dateline NBC" (6.3 million, 1.4/4) and an hour of "The Simpsons" (4.9 million, 2.5/8).

Fox's "Family Guy" (6.1 million, 3.2/9 for an entire hour) was the winner at 9 p.m., against repeats "Desperate Housewives" (3.3 million, 1.0/3); "Cold Case" (7.1 million, 1.7/5) and "Law & Order" (6 million, 1.5/4). CBS and NBC split at 10 p.m. with "Without a Trace" (7.3 million, 1.7/5) and "Law & Order: SVU" (6.6 million, 1.9/5).

Sunday averages: ABC (4.1 million, 1.3/4); CBS (7.1 million, 1.7/5); NBC (5.7 million, 1.4/4); Fox (4.4 million, 2.2/7); The CW (1.3 million, 0.5/2).